PATIENCE SAWMILLS

Sawmills

The Sawmill is an icon of mystery and danger in many different genres of film and television. Towns that still employ the use of sawmills for economic, infrastructure and heating purposes are usually on the frontier and far from large cities and civilizations. Sawmills are nothing without the forests that feed their hunger. It is within these forests that nature and a wild world still exists. The forest always hides the serial killer or the UFO crash landing or other unknown figure. People tend to fear the unknown and the sawmill is a type of structure that exists on the border of the known and the strange depths of fear and wonder. The sawmill setting can also denote a type of past era such as the California Gold Rush era or other frontier settlements. A key part of every sawmill is its proximity to moving water sources. It is in water sources such as these where things are hidden and lost and bodies go missing. The type of lumber that sawmills process also indicates a certain cold climate in mountainous regions. One can easily see the level of intricacy that a sawmill can donate to a thrilling story.

The rules and regulations that happen in the thick forests and sawmills are both technical when speaking about the machinery and based in tradition when referencing the use of the sawmill in specific genres in the history of films. When speaking specifically from the point of view of the forest towards the sawmill as a man made structure, the forest becomes something attacked in some points of view while in others the forest is a haven for dark creatures and mysterious figures. The sawmill can also be where a journey ends and becomes a destination from a long trek through the surrounding area. In the horror genre for example the sawmill is often used as a hiding place from the monster or serial killer, in other words the antagonist. This brings us to the interior of the sawmill. By nature the interior of the sawmill is filled with insanely dangerous blades of all sorts in addition to water and large dangerous pieces of wood constantly moving about. The dust inside a sawmill and the fact that there is also considerable noise can create a disorienting atmosphere. The interior of the sawmill now has become a very dangerous and disorienting place where the potential for things and people to pop out and surprise or even be swallowed by a wood chipping machine. Sawmills also have easy access to water and since they are more commonly used in horror situations the water is often used as an important device. In films and television involving murder the bodies are sometimes disposed of in rivers which lead to sawmills. The sawmill structure has an opening for logs to enter which can be used as a dangerous device. Often times sawmills have multiple levels used to support machinery and the weight of the logs this often leads to the common chase scene. There are other rules that are based on the weather that occurs in the climates where trees that sawmills use exist. This factor regulates that people who reside in these climates in proximity to sawmills and forests must always be battling nature for survival through layered clothing which slows people down while also being bulky. Sawmill technology was heavily used in past eras. In these towns there was usually no laws and only vigilante justice.

Scenario 1: The frontier town is rapidly expanding based on a gold rush and the logging industry is taking off for all the new homes and businesses being built. A murder takes place at the sawmill and the town is in uproar to find the killer. Everyone blames each other in bouts of frontier justice and another innocent is killed. The killer could even be cornered at the sawmill and meet his demise at the hands of heavy machinery. The angry mob could also burn down the sawmill which is predominantly composed of wood.

Scenario 2: The ghost of a long dead gold miner inhabits the old derelict sawmill. A summer camp has opened in the nearby forest and a young group of campers is coming up to attend the camp. The campers hear the ghost story and one of the more domineering campers dares another to go to the old mill late at night. Upon visiting the campers find the ghost and decide to uncover the mystery. This set up could easily lead to an adventure type movie with a possibly conspiracy twist with the ghost as a simple cover up to hide the operations.

Scenario 3: A man seeks his long lost father who is known to be a hermit in a mountainous region. During a storm he takes shelter in the second story of an abandoned sawmill. The sawmill however is inhabited by another. The stranger could either be one of two characters. His father and they are happily reunited or another hermit mountain dweller who informs the protagonist that his father is dead.

SCRIPT 3 EXPERIMENTAL

Theme: The line between life and death is very thin and often blurred beyond recognition

Program:No rules truly apply in drastic situations where lives are at stake. The Doctor must struggle with the inherent rules of medical morality while also thinking about society's predetermined hierarchy of important professions.

Premise:A group of strangers composed of a doctor, flight attendant, pregnant single mother, businessman, police officer and prisoner all end up on an airplane. The engines malfunction and the pilot disappears while the pregnant woman goes into labor. The group must work together to salvage all lives on the plane before their hysteria and distrust of each other ends in the collective deaths of all.

Treatment:None of the actors are aware of the overarching circumstances that will befall them all. They will all be given envelopes with instructions within them that describe their relationships to the other characters and when to incite certain events. The characters enter the airplane in a random order. The doctor views the pregnant mother with an inquisitive and scientific eye and notes that she is too pregnant to be flying but decides that since he is about to embark on a vacation that he should not worry about medicine. Everyone eyes the prisoner and police officer with a mistrusting and dangerous eye. The businessman identifies with the doctor and talks to him about the prestigious college he went to and the fraternity he was part of even though the doctor isn't in the least bit interested. The single mother is too preoccupied with her own state of distress and pregnancy to develop any important opinions about the other characters. She gorges herself with the free salted peanuts and asks the other characters if she can have theirs. Each character willingly gives her the peanuts except for the businessman who makes an offensive remark to the doctor before begrudgingly handing over his peanuts. The prisoner is not offered peanuts while the police officer refuses them. The actors are allowed to improvise their dialogue in accordance with their personality and character types which are predetermined. The inciting incident occurs when the flight attendant runs down the plane to the characters and announces that the pilot is missing and the airplane pilot is missing from the cockpit. The shock of the situation sends the pregnant mother into labor. Panic quickly ensues. The prisoner speaks for the first time and announces that he has flight training and can control the airplane. The businessman accusingly asks him how he can believe him and the police officer responds that the prisoner is being detained because of known connections to terrorist organizations that have given him ample flight lessons along with combat skills. The flight attendant reveals that only two parachutes are functioning in the small passenger plane. The doctor must then decide if he will deliver the child and take care of the mother even though the plane is headed for doom or if he will take the parachute and escape from the plane. If he delivers the child the plane crashes and all inhabitants of the plane will die. If he escapes the plane will land safely but the mother and child will die from the stress of childbirth and inadequate care by a knowledgeable physician. The actor playing the role of the doctor will have the power to decide what happens to the group however he will not be made aware of the implications of his actions. If the doctor takes the parachute the businessman will attempt to steal the gun from the police officer in order to gain power over the others while he escapes but will die in the process of taking the gun.

Composites: The flight attendant frantically screams that the pilot has gone missing while everyone screams in shock. The prisoner however calmly rises to his feet and confidently states that he can save everyone on the plane. The businessman stands up enraged and fearful and accuses the inmate of being a liar and screams about the inherent doom that the group is in. The pregnant mother then grabs his arm and screams as her water breaks all over the floor of the airplane drenching the businessman's expensive leather shoes.

SCRIPT 2

Theme:Overvaluing group membership/ causes one to indulge in dangerous activities which results in/ drastic personal consequences

Premise: In a post apocalyptic Orange County gangs constantly battle with the local totalitarian government. A young member of the Twisted Demons, Rembrandt, desires to rise in the ranks of his gang by proving his worth by becoming the most prolific graffiti writer representing the gang. As he ventures into more and more dangerous locations to advance his gang's prominence and territory by painting their moniker he continuously finds that he has been beaten by another unaffiliated tagger who calls himself “Ghost2”. One night when he ventures out alone he is confronted by Ghost2 who tells him he will never be a great artist if he continues to be part of such a violent and nefarious gang. Ghost2 then proceeds to rob him of his valuables and spray paint and also punches him in the jaw in a purely sadistic manner. An an injured Rembrandt then decides that the only way to prove to his gang and his mysterious rival that he is a great graffiti artist is to write the name of the gang on the most heavily guarded landmark in the area, Snow White's Castle at Disneyland, which has been converted into the central hub of the evil totalitarian government. Rembrandt creates what he believes to be a fool proof plan and is almost successful when he is discovered and arrested and taken off to be tortured and imprisoned for the rest of his life. As he is being dragged away he looks back and sees the tag of his hated rival Ghost2 on the tower of the castle, as if it appeared out of thin air.

Program: The rules that apply to the characters in this story all come from Dystopian classics such as Mad Max, The Warriors, and Escape From New York. The extremely strict laws of the totalitarian government and militaristic police officers are in full force in addition to the aggressive and violent rules and consequences of gang affiliation. The rules of graffiti writers and the codes of honor they hold are also at work. Writers often fight and claim territories and have their own games when solving disputes.

Treatment: Rembrandt and his tagging crew barely escape from police officers as they run on the desolate streets back to the heart of their gang's turf. He is respected by his immediate crew and loves this fact. He is disappointed by the way the rest of the gang treats him however. As they make it back to the compound house that the gang resides in Rembrandt passes by a room where he hears elder members talking about a position opening up in the higher ranks of the gang. He peers through the key hole and listens to the entire conversation. Rembrandt goes out the next night determined to make a name for himself in the gang by tagging the most dangerous locations around the city. He first starts with the large A in the parking lot of the derelict Angel Stadium. The A has fallen and the lower regions are coated in graffiti while the top is completely clean. Rembrandt encounters writers from other gangs and a scuffle ensues eventually he wins and makes it to the top in order to claim the spot for his gang. He notices something strange. This spot has already been claimed by a sinister looking tag which reads “Ghost2”. He continues to tag various landmarks around Orange County and finds that has been beaten each time. The next day he approaches an older member of his gang, a retired writer who has now taken over administrative duties, and asks about the mysterious tag. The older member laughs at him and tells him to “stop believing in fairy tales”. A frightening dream wakes Rembrandt the next night and he decides to go out into the night to his favorite hidden practicing spot, an isolated shack on a mountain in a deserted part of the East Hills area of Anaheim. As he is practicing, Ghost2 appears and tells him the necessary qualities one must have to succeed. He tells him the importance of being an individual and promotes pacifism over violence. He then robs Rembrandt for his paint and valuables and then proceeds to break his jaw with a sadistic sucker punch. As Rembrandt looks up from the ground with a blood filled mouth Ghost2 has disappeared and nothing remains. A scorned Rembrandt tries to tell the older members of his gang about the assault that took place. The older members again laugh at him for making up stories and tell him to stop wasting time and continue with his job of claiming gang turf through graffiti. Rembrandt in his rage devises a plan to prove to everyone that he is the most prolific writer amongst the gangs. He decides to hit the central compound of the totalitarian government that the gangs continuously must battle with. The government makes its homebase in a dark and twisted Snow White's Castle in the center of Disneyland itself. On the night of his heist he breaks into the compound and goes through many elaborate ride scenarios that have been turned into booby trapped areas. He makes it to the top of the castle but is spotted by the officers. He is brutally beaten and dragged down main street as he looks back he sees in large black letters the tag of his mysterious rival Ghost2 as if it appeared out of thin air.

Composites: Rembrandt gently grips the can of vintage Krylon Watermelon as he loses himself in his headphones. A shadowy figure slowly creeps towards him surrounded by a fog. Rembrandt swiftly turns and points his can threateningly at the shadowy figure. The figure idenifies himself as Ghost2 and gives Rembrandt his speech. Ghost2 then quickly glides to Rembrandt and puts him in a headlock. As if he has magical powers he removes all of Rembrandts valuables and paint. Rembrandt, slightly embarrassed, jumps back and yells at Ghost2 who then towers over him and launches his fist into Rembrandts jaw. Rembrandt falls to the floor slowly and in a daze. As he looks up the wind swirls and the figure is gone, leaving no trace.

GATHERING

Theme: Man's supposed superiority/leads to/ the realization of the true hierarchy of nature

Premise: The story takes place in the late 1960s. After a mysterious beast kills several people in a small Alaskan town a large bounty is put up to attract professional hunters to the area. The story opens on two hunters in a bar on the outskirts of town discussing their various hunting escapades, one has minimal equipment and a deep respect for the creatures he has killed in the past while the other relies on heavy technology and a greedy thirst for monetary gain. When a woman runs into the bar bleeding and screaming and collapses in a heap the chase begins and both hunters set off into the forest. When the beast is finally tracked down a battle ensues between the three individuals. The greed driven hunter is ripped limb from limb after trying to approach the beast while it is snared in a trap. The other hunter lifts his gun and kills the beast but instead of collecting the reward and allowing the body of the animal to be exploited by scientists and townspeople he cremates it with explosives so that there is no trace left.

Program: The story takes place mostly in the fringe between human society and the natural world of the forest. The rules of nature are in full swing. The hunters must strictly abide to the kill or be killed mentality and are completely at the mercy of the weather and also the beast that they are tracking. It is only their weapons and technology that separate them from the animals that inhabit the forest but it is not these things that make them more dangerous.

Treatment: The story opens with Hunter #1 quietly entering the bar while Hunter #2 regales the bar crowd with stories of his hunting escapades. After a while hunter #2 recognizes his competition and creeps his way towards his rival to find more information about him. They discuss topics such as technology and the second hunter misquotes the bible several times concerning man's dominion over animals as being a grant from god to hunt and kill what he pleases. Even though they both are different they strike up an unlikely alliance due to their shared goal.

(inciting incident) A woman is heard screaming from outside the bar. Everyone rushes outside to find a woman bleeding to death with a bloody trail leading back into the forest adjacent to the bar. This sparks the chase of the beast by the two hunters who are now in an unlikely partnership. They trek through the forest helping each other overcome various obstacles in the terrain. Their actions directly relate to the idea that humanity is a societal species and needs to travel in packs in order to succeed and that individual humans are inherently weak. As night begins falling the two must set up shelter and protect themselves from the harsh weather. #2 sets up traps around the perimeter while #1 builds a fire.

In the early morning hours a blood curdling scream can be heard and both hunters rush out with their weapons to investigate. They discover the beast has been caught in a trap and is desperately grabbing for freedom. #2 approaches the beast and begins to patronize him. #1 repeatedly tells him to be careful and to have respect for the injured creature but he continues to probe and provoke the beast. As he gets closer the beast lunges out and rips him limb from limb. #1 fires his weapon and kills the beast but the clearing is already splattered with the blood of the other hunter. He buries the remains of the second hunter in the Christian tradition and cremates the body of the beast so that it will not be strung up in the town or desecrated by scientists and begins his walk back to the town.

Composites: Hunter #1 is a British man in his late 40s who was born and raised on a private land reserve in the jungles of India. He believes in reincarnation and has somewhat strong beliefs along the lines of Hinduism that he learned from the servants at his childhood home. He lives for the thrill of the hunt and regards it as a sacred practice that must be duly respected.

Hunter #2 is of Texan origin and prizes material wealth and status symbols above all. He loves carnage and his most prized possessions are the trophy heads of animals he has killed hanging in his game room. He has no religious convictions although he was raised a Protestant Christian. He has more faith in technology and believes in the superiority of humanity.